April 27, 2017

"What Fresh Hell Is This?"

The title is one of my favourite quotes from the late, great writer and poet, Dorothy Parker. As part of my #ThisIsBaltimore2017 quest, I decided to go find her grave. And yes, she is interred here in Baltimore!

In her will, she specified that her ashes, and her estate be given to Martin Luther Kings, and if he was deceased, to the NAACP, which is headquartered here in Baltimore. Lillian Hellman was the executor of her estate, and thought that Dorothy should have left her literary rights to her, and so after Parker's death, she really held up publishing permissions. And the ashes remained in a drawer of a filing cabinet for 15 years after Parker's death. A small site in the back of the HQ building was cleared and a circle of bricks and stones was laid, in homage to the famed Algonquin Roundtable. I knew some of this, so decided to go find the grave. I was very disappointed to find it in the back of the building, with broken cement benches scattered around, a tipped over plant laying on top of the plaque and the whole site in general disrepair. If I had a broom with me, I would have cleaned it up a bit, but alas...

The NAACP is her literary agent, and I am sure they get a significant sum from acting as such. The least they could do is care for Dorothy Parker's final resting place.

She was an amazing person. I never knew she was so socially committed but I love her more now. And I LOVE "what fresh hell is this" and I'm pretty damn fond of "age before beauty, pearls before swine. "I hope someone sweeps up that mess. I suspect she'd have a very good withering comment to make about it.

Hello Meg, Parker's entire life was ironical, so it seems natural that her death and resting place would be too. Isn't there an important cemetery to which her remains could be moved? So many people more could honor her, and the back of an office building seems inappropriate and below her dignity.--Jim

That is a shame about her grave being where/how it is. As a long time cemetery photographer, I have swept off and straightened headstones, removed litter, and tried to help keep complete strangers' gravesites nice. Vandalism of graveyards is one of my pet peeves. The utter disregard for Ms. Parker's resting place does need to be addressed! Glad you sought her out.

Have you listened to the History Chicks' Podcasts on Dorothy Parker?http://thehistorychicks.com/episode-55-dorothy-parker-part-one/http://thehistorychicks.com/episode-56-dorothy-parker-part-two/Very interesting.

About Me

Pigtown Design is the musings of Meg Fairfax Fielding, a Baltimore-based writer, photographer and fund-raiser, who explores design, architecture, culture, and current events in Baltimore and around the world.